TRAGIC SEARCH: Friends find missing man's body

UPDATE 12.05pm: THE search for missing man Damien Roadley has come to an end with the discovery of a body at Blue Knob.

It is a tragic end for family and friends who had been scouring the mountain since he was reported missing eleven days ago.

Scott Davis grew up at Blue Springs with Mr Roadley, and the pair spent much of their childhood "rambling around the mountains".

Tragically, it was Mr Davis who found Mr Roadley's body.

Mr Davis was part of a local team of five led by Andrew Penney, an independent search and rescue expert who came from the Blue Mountains to help with the search.

A friend of Mr Roadley said on first-up evidence, Mr Penney assessed Mr Roadley would have died almost instantly.

Mr Roadley's body was located below the lookout where his belongings were found 12 days ago.

An area directly below the lookout had been searched previously by crews on the ground and by helicopter, but Mr Penney's crew decided to search lower down in a ravine on the south-western end of Blue Knob, where they found Mr Roadley's body.

Social media posts say community intuition led searchers to return to the area.

Earlier Mr Roadley's brother, Kim, expressed his gratitude for those involved in searching for the 38-year-old.

"(I'd) just like to thank the community for their support and in particular those that have assisted in trying to locate him," Mr Roadley said.

A friend said: "The community is both saddened but relieved to have closure. The family is in mourning."

LATEST: THE crew from Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter has winched in a rescue team to the site on Blue Knob Mountain where a body was found this morning.

Chief executive officer of the service Stephen Leahy said all other search parties had been extricated from the site and returned to Nimbin Showground.

Mr Leahy said the helicopter was refuelling in Lismore then returning to Sydney, but hoped their crews were of some assistance to police and the other rescue services.

Mr Leahy said their thoughts will remain with family and friends. He hoped they offered some comfort to family to be able to return Mr Roadley to his family.

Our thoughts at The Northern Star are also with the family and friends.

UPDATE 1.20pm: A BODY has been found on Blue Knob Mountain.

A body has been located after a large-scale search for a man reported as missing last week in bushland.

Family members reported 38-year-old Damien Roadley as missing after he set out for an overnight camping trip on Wednesday August 1, 2018 and failed to return.